Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Never had Aleph seen the world to be this beautiful.

It was a weird sensation. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw far beyond the simple physical world. All the processes taking place, from the movement of molecules up to the dazzling changes in the subatomic realm, were presented in his eyes.

'Elemental Sight… is closed.' He thought as he focused.

Aleph discovered that he had an instinctive thought of his will extending up to a certain radius.

'A domain.'

It was similar to the Sorcerer's Domain Expansion, yet also differs from it.

Dozens of ratio lines appeared in his sight. Aleph felt that he would be able to obliterate this entire room by striking on any of their divisions.

It was then he realized.

'Albion's power… and the Domain Expansion from Ratio.'

Albion's power in the series he knew was extremely vague. Only indirect statements such as Melusine's transformation to its dragon form as well as occasional statements were known.

As the last living 'true dragon', Albion's status was akin to a Grand's of Alaya's Throne of Heroes. It wasn't merely its raw power that was strong, but also its unique authority. 

Hassan-i-Sabbah, the former Grand Assassin, held an authority that allowed him to kill even the "unkillable gods".

Albion's authority could be summed up as a form of passive and active skill.

The lasers Melusine used held destruction. It could be used on its own (a laser) or an enhancement to an already power attack. There was also life. It manifested in the form of a tough physical body and insane recovery. 

It was similar to the Realizers Aleph faced in Kurumi's world. His power enabled him to briefly defy physical laws at his will, in turn creating specific effects.

Then there was this special state, the one he was currently in. Not only did his sight undergone a huge change, Aleph felt he could do something beyond that, as if his mind alone could influence the world around him.

"...Ugh."

Aleph felt a pang of headache. It wasn't even a second when he saw how drained his mind had become. It wasn't an issue of energy, but its sheer burden.

For now, he felt that going into his Active Honkai Reaction was the furthest he could go.

He immediately 'removed' his influence over his surroundings. The ratio lines remained, though the overwhelming force around him disappeared.

"Is this it..? It was supposed to be Mysteries…"

In Albion's world, it wasn't only authority and magical energy that mattered, but also mysteries. The great figures were capable of utilizing mysteries to bolster their power. 

However, it wasn't the case on the power inherited by Aleph. His inheritance did not involve mysteries and the likes. It only required him to spend 'energy' in the form of cursed energy, dark energy, or even honkai energy.

'I didn't ask about this…' He lamented. 'I should ask Albion next time.'

Aleph was floating above the ground. It was similar to cursed techniques' nature. Even if Domain Expansion wasn't used, it could still be utilized with limited functions.

By the time his feet landed to the ground, the scales all over his body disappeared. Only the pure golden light in his eyes remained. That, and small pieces of black scale embedded on his forearm.

"Hum… That's right."

Aleph felt a stinging gaze at his back. His eyes met Mobius' beyond the glass wall. A sense of chill went through his spine as his [Information Retribution] acted up.

Seeing Mobius' name in it, a certain thought flew in his mind.

'Just what is she spying on..?!'

*****

In her nearly thirty years of life, Mobius experienced a lot. She wasn't similar to an inexperienced girl who would blush at the sight of a naked human.

Yet…

Dum.

Dum.

Dum.

'Why..?'

It wasn't a matter of embarrassment. There was simply a feeling deep within her that was extremely curious about Aleph's 'evolution'. The disturbances he made made it evident it wasn't a simple one.

'I want to place him in the table…'

"Hey? Are you sleepy?"

Aleph's voice woke her up instantly. He was already dressed when he left the airtight room and entered her 'office'. It was the typical Fire MOTH uniform, which was something he received when he completed the mission on Shibuya.

"It's fine to sleep. How many hours… no, how long did it take?" He asked.

"Five days."

"Five days… I knew it."

He wore the expression of a person who expected something.

"Even if it isn't that long for others, it's just right I did not ask them to undergo this process."

"So, what happened? Your state earlier… was it the theorized Active Honkai Reaction?" 

Mobius asked with great interest.

"Yeah. I haven't tested its power yet." Aleph seemed to have recalled something. "Did I make too much noise?"

"The entire world knows something happened here."

With a yawn, Mobius explained everything that occurred while he was unconscious.

"I'm sorry about that… If I knew it would be like that, I would've chosen…"

"It's alright."

"...Uhm?"

Seeing Mobius disregard it lightly, Aleph paused for a moment.

"You will have to make it up."

Her words made his heart skip a beat. He saw her snake-like pupils narrowing down several times. Coupled with the spying he received from earlier, Aleph knew he was about to face something.

Mobius stood up from her seat across her desk. She walked towards the sofa he was sitting on.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Her heels made a noticeably loud sound with each of her steps. She did not hesitate to claim her sovereignty over Aleph's lap. She sat sideways, with her face looking directly at Aleph.

'It's even worse..!'

The throbbing sensation on his head took a turn for the worse. These sporadic urges appeared as a side effect of his MANTIS surgery. 

With the activation of his Active Honkai Reaction, nothing much changed except for this sporadic urge. Somehow, it managed to become even worse than what it was before.

Mobius' scent has not changed since five days ago. Her favorite shampoo and bodily scent created something that was unique to her.

'Thirty years old… Is this why she's different from Mei? But if it comes to age, Kurumi should be the oldest…'

Aleph's messy thoughts were put to an end when his lips met Mobius'.

*****

A/N: To be honest, Fate's scaling was simple, but several retcons and other confusing things made it... well, confusing. For simplicity's sake, think of it as rock-paper-scissors. For example, Sefar and Amaterasu. Amaterasu has a higher power level than Sefar (the 387 mil thing). However, because Sefar works effectively against the World (Anti-World), and unfortunately, Amaterasu's powers use it as a basis (The Sun), she was defeated. Sefar used a scissor on a paper. But then, there's a random human with Excalibur that defeated Sefar. He (or she) shouldn't have been as strong as Amaterasu, yet he (or she) did it. Excalibur was able to bypass Sefar's ability to absord energy for her own use; she was overloaded to death. That human used a rock against a scissor.

I explained the thing above to prepare everyone when the time to open up Fate-related abilities comes (Albion, ahem). If it gets confusing (or if there are any mistakes), do let me know.

Happy Reading~!